Mainland Greek Kreatosoupa Avgolemono (Κρεατόσουπα Αυγολέμονο)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •heavy stockpot, 6 to 7 litres
• •fine-mesh sieve large enough for 2 litres of broth
• •wide bowl and whisk for avgolemono
• •large ladle

Instructions

1. 1

   Start Cold

   Put the beef in a 6 to 7 litre stockpot and cover with 3 litres cold water. Bring it slowly to a bare boil over medium heat, then lower the heat and skim the gray froth for 10 to 15 minutes. A clean start gives you a clean broth, and this soup is only as good as its stock.

2. 2

   Simmer the Beef

   Add the onion, celery stalks, bay leaves, peppercorns, and 2 teaspoons salt. Keep the pot at a gentle simmer, partly covered, for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, until the meat pulls easily from the bone but still holds in pieces. Do not hurry it. Shin and shank give their best when the pot is quiet.

3. 3

   Strain the Broth

   Lift the meat to a platter. Strain the broth into a clean pot and discard the spent onion, celery, bay, and peppercorns. You want about 2.2 litres of broth; add hot water if you are short, or simmer it uncovered for a few minutes if you have too much. Pull the meat from the bones in generous pieces and discard tough sinew.

4. 4

   Cook Vegetables

   Return the strained broth to a gentle boil. Add the carrots, potatoes, and celery root and cook for 12 minutes. Add the rinsed rice and simmer 15 to 18 minutes more, until the rice is tender but not bursting and the potatoes yield to a spoon. Return the beef to the pot for the last 5 minutes so it warms through.

5. 5

   Whisk Avgolemono

   While the rice cooks, whisk the eggs, egg yolk, lemon juice, and a pinch of salt in a wide bowl until the mixture is even and loose. Taste your lemons first. Some are gentle, some bite back, and the soup should be bright, not sour.

6. 6

   Temper the Eggs

   Turn off the heat under the soup and wait until the bubbling stops. Ladle about 500ml hot broth into the egg-lemon mixture in thin streams, whisking all the time. Egg sets around 65C, so warming it slowly is what gives you silk instead of curds. Pour the tempered avgolemono back into the pot, stirring gently.

   Hot broth goes into the eggs, never eggs straight into a boiling pot. That is the one fussy part, and it earns its place.
7. 7

   Finish and Serve

   Set the pot over the lowest heat for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring gently, until the soup looks pale, glossy, and lightly thickened. Do not let it boil. Taste for salt and lemon, then ladle into bowls with meat, vegetables, and rice in each serving. Finish with parsley and black pepper if you like, and pass extra lemon at the table.

Chef Tips

• •Buy shin, shank, neck, or osso buco-cut beef with bone and connective tissue. Boneless stew meat makes a thin, polite soup, and Greek Sunday soup is not meant to apologize.
• •If celery root is hard to find, use two extra celery stalks with leaves. Do not replace it with a handful of dried herbs; the soup wants clean vegetable sweetness, not perfume.
• •Make the broth a day ahead if you can. Chill it, lift off the hard fat, then cook the rice and avgolemono on the day you serve it. Once the egg-lemon is in, reheat gently and never let it boil.
• •On a fasting day, this is not the pot. The nistisimo answer is fasolada, revithosoupa, or a lemon-tahini chickpea soup, because the calendar already knows how to feed a table without meat.

Advance Preparation

• •Cook the beef and broth up to 2 days ahead. Chill the meat in a little broth and keep the remaining broth separate; lift off the fat once cold.
• •Do not add the rice or avgolemono until the day of serving. Rice swells overnight, and egg-lemon soup must stay below a boil when reheated.
• •Freeze the strained broth and meat before adding rice or avgolemono for up to 2 months.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 720g)